March Hatch-A-Long

[Tatuana]

Aw, sorry. I am so afraid of doing this. I candle a suspect egg way more than most probably do because of it. I almost got rid of an egg today. Twice...no movement...today, movement.

I'm going to admit something I probably shouldn't in the middle of a group of egg hatchers... I LOVE candling the eggs, and do it probably WAY too much. It's just so amazing watching them grow, you know? It's like a little kid waiting for Christmas. I have to keep myself from candling six or twenty times a day. So weird, but so awesome to see.

I'm also super paranoid, and I feel horrible culling the dead eggs. I have a 'bleeding heart' times ten. And a "Well maybe tomorrow it'll be not dead?" kind of problem. One of my other eggs has been for SURE dead twice now. But then I'd check one last time before tossing it out, and I'd be sure I'd see life. So I tend to keep eggs much longer than I should.

Which is why I was so surprised about the kicking! Usually by the time I do things I've tested a thousand times to be sure, asked the internet six times, checked again, and then gritted my teeth and not looked while I tossed it out. The kicking kind of threw me through a loop.

The 'good news' is that the other egg I opened was dead. I could see the yoke, and the beak. It made me sadder than I thought, so I won't be opening anymore eggs to check. I don't see how some people do it. Death is hard!

The chicks are officially two days late (Due Saturday at noonish). The one with an open shell moved, I think. I can now clearly see the beak at the top. I'm sure I didn't see the beak earlier. I'm hoping that means it's getting ready to come out, and will convince the others (if any) to follow. It's got a wet paper towel on the top - doubling as a humidity regulator for the incubator. We'll see how the chick is tomorrow.

 

[Ranchwithaview]

@Tatuana I love candling too. After having three chicks not hatch last time, I restrained myself a lot this time. I still had two chicks not make it. One died midway, but one tonight, didn't even get an internal pip. It's so sad. I don't know what happened.

I am happy to say that a second chick did hatch tonight. ❤ so now the first has a friend.

 

[two j farm]

I'm going to admit something I probably shouldn't in the middle of a group of egg hatchers... I LOVE candling the eggs, and do it probably WAY too much. It's just so amazing watching them grow, you know? It's like a little kid waiting for Christmas. I have to keep myself from candling six or twenty times a day. So weird, but so awesome to see.

I'm also super paranoid, and I feel horrible culling the dead eggs. I have a 'bleeding heart' times ten. And a "Well maybe tomorrow it'll be not dead?" kind of problem. One of my other eggs has been for SURE dead twice now. But then I'd check one last time before tossing it out, and I'd be sure I'd see life. So I tend to keep eggs much longer than I should.

Which is why I was so surprised about the kicking! Usually by the time I do things I've tested a thousand times to be sure, asked the internet six times, checked again, and then gritted my teeth and not looked while I tossed it out. The kicking kind of threw me through a loop.

The 'good news' is that the other egg I opened was dead. I could see the yoke, and the beak. It made me sadder than I thought, so I won't be opening anymore eggs to check. I don't see how some people do it. Death is hard!

The chicks are officially two days late (Due Saturday at noonish). The one with an open shell moved, I think. I can now clearly see the beak at the top. I'm sure I didn't see the beak earlier. I'm hoping that means it's getting ready to come out, and will convince the others (if any) to follow. It's got a wet paper towel on the top - doubling as a humidity regulator for the incubator. We'll see how the chick is tomorrow.

I love candling to, but I have learned the hard way to just let them be. I only candle now on days 3,10,15 and 17 I like to put my eggs in lockdown on day 17 and I don't open the incubator til day 21 unless I have to. I have had eggs pip at day 18 and hatch on day 19. I understand how you feel about not opening the eggs, my first time I opened any egg that did hatch to find fully developed chicks that died, so now I just toss them without looking. The more you hatch the easier it will get.

 

[Matieus27]

I typically always open them up cause I want to see what stage they were at and I’ve had several thar didn’t hatch due to malposition and other unknown reasons as well

 

[notasilkie]

Day 21... no pips but I heard a little cheep! Trying to not just sit in front of the incubator all day

 

[Ranchwithaview]

I am always a little sad when I lose a chick, no matter the stage, but I am having a really hard time over the one I lost last night.

It was my wiggler. I chatted with it. I thought it would be first out. Last night (or the wee hours of the am) I opened it. I learned it was malpositioned. I wish I had connected the dots sooner. I heard it tapping, and knew it wasn't making progress. By the time I started to worry, I needed to leave the house. I didn't get home until five hours later. The poor thing suffocated right? I feel to blame. I just keep running through the nights events. I wish I hadn't given it so long...or candled it when it wasn't making progress...something.

What tips do you have to prevent malposition? Can you tell when candling? Looking back, I remember at least one of the three I lost last time was malpositioned.

 

[cppeace]

You're not to blame. It was malpositioned. Something was up. Sometimes stuff just happens. As weak as this little swede acts I'm pretty sure is would have died in shell if I hadn't helped and I only helped because it started zipping then just couldn't continue. No clue why. I didn't open any of the discarded eggs but from candling I think many were positioned wrong.

 

[Tatuana]

No sign of egg movement today. Two hours until they're three days late. Pretty sure one blood ringed overnight.

The chick that I opened didn't move today when I checked to make sure he was still moist. I'm hoping he was just asleep and not dead.

I love candling to, but I have learned the hard way to just let them be. I only candle now on days 3,10,15 and 17 I like to put my eggs in lockdown on day 17 and I don't open the incubator til day 21 unless I have to. I have had eggs pip at day 18 and hatch on day 19. I understand how you feel about not opening the eggs, my first time I opened any egg that did hatch to find fully developed chicks that died, so now I just toss them without looking. The more you hatch the easier it will get.

Yeah, that's what I'm teaching myself to do. It's a struggle. The one I opened yesterday that was dead still had a lot of yoke, but I could see feathers. I didn't think it would be that depressing. I've dealt with wounded animals a lot, and dead birds in my yard.

 

[Chicksnmind]

I think I lost one of the ones who looked less developed than the others. It was moving and kicking yesterday. Even though it’s a brown egg it looks so much more clear to see that the others. Very easy to see beak and shape of claws.

It could be sleeping but it’s not spread out all over the shell ( which is why I would say it looked less developed)..it just takes up one side. One half is clear and the other dark where it is.

 

[Chickassan]

Iv'e kicked one egg out, no development that looked promising just the early start of a bloodring.
I still have seven going strong and one too opaque to see through.
Kicker, the hen I took six eggs from is now "walking broody" so she's an absolute little terror at the moment.